4 ways to avoid unproductive hires

New employees can often be the most unpredictable part of business since an unproductive hire can cost a company both time and money. So, how does an organization limit the number of unproductive new hires? The solution lies in the company’s approach to recruiting and the collective factors that can play a part in identifying the ideal candidates.

Utilize Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics is quickly becoming one of the biggest trends in recruiting. A growing number of companies are reverting to analytics to monitor drive, productivity, retention and the profitability of new hires. Human resource departments and recruiting firms are beginning to produce specific data points to assist during the evaluations of potential candidates. Through analytics and assessments, companies should now be able to predict the future success of potential employees with greater accuracy.

Set Realistic Expectations

Organizations must sometimes hire quickly to support rapid growth or to replace outgoing employees. Consequently, hiring managers will resort to reactive hiring techniques that often produce similar, unproductive hires. When contemplating hiring for any new position, all stakeholders must have a clear understanding of the role and all hiring managers must set precise expectations for the new position.

Additionally, researching the talent market and creating a job profile that reflects the exact needs of the company will provide increased accuracy and efficiency in the hiring process, ultimately identifying candidates that can achieve the set targets. If this is not done correctly, new hires are destined to fail and are more likely to eventually leave the company.

Review Past Performance

Past performance review has always been a fundamental part of the hiring process; however, the misuse of this information can affect a hiring manager’s ability to objectively assess a candidate. Employers will often judge the future success of a potential employee through past performance, but there is no guarantee that the candidate can replicate their previous achievements in a new setting. This information is best used for interview preparation. Incomplete sales metrics or gaps in a resume can provide potential lines of questioning, leading to a more insightful interview. Asking situational and theoretical questions during an interview will provide context for the data. Hiring managers should also be mindful that candidates, with the help of online resources, are now more adept at shaping the context around their past performance. When hiring managers do not give themselves time to adequately prepare for an interview, they are likely to rely on run-of-the-mill questions that the interviewee has previously encountered and is overly prepared to answer.

Review Behavioral Traits

Evaluating a candidate’s behavioral traits and cognitive abilities can also be a productive way to analyze future success. An association that has methods for assessing the intangibles that make up a person’s mindset often have greater success at finding the trends and patterns that help create an ideal candidate’s persona. For example, last year The Renaissance Network conducted a study to identify the common traits that resulted in strong, long-term sales hires. We found that individuals who scored higher on traits such as logical problem solving, intensity and assertiveness were more likely to have future success in their new roles. You should always remember that each person has his or her own work style, but there are other traits that can be highlighted by questioning candidates on topics such as ownership, integrity and times they felt pride at work.

The future success of an employee will always be unpredictable, but it is possible to limit the number of unproductive hires through a systematic, 360-degree hiring process. When hiring a new employee, companies must strive to have a clear understanding of the role and how it fits within the organization, use a range of resources to quantify results and ensure that every hire is interviewed in person. There will always be a range of variables when hiring a new team member, but making quality hires that truly fit your organization will go a long way to limit potentially unproductive hires.